Review by Bob Ignizio
Benecio (Kaden Leos), the little boy who lives next door, explains to Ryan Gosling's Driver that sharks are always bad guys; you can tell because they look like they're bad. The predators who populate the cast of DRIVE do a much better job of keeping their true natures hidden, with Gosling's unassuming stuntman by day, get-away driver by night, very possibly the most dangerous of them all.
DRIVE begins with an exciting pre-credits sequence in which Driver shows just how good he is at his night job in a chase scene very different than any I've ever seen. It then settles down for most of its first hour to build character and mood. As DRIVE reaches its final act, it erupts into an orgy of cringe-inducing violence. Such shifts can often be jarring, but everything about how director Nicholas Winding Refn has constructed this film is deliberate and perfectly executed, from the cinematography and casting to the songs on the soundtrack and even the neon pink font used in the credits.
